Relations with Suriname

Guyana's relations with Suriname have at times been tense. Suriname
has a territorial claim to a triangle of a land between the New and
Courantyne rivers in southeast Guyana. In 1969 Suriname sent troops into
the disputed territory. They were quickly repelled by the Guyanese army.
Although Suriname made no further attempts to take the territory by
force, two issues continued to trouble relations. The first was the
forced repatriation of Guyanese living in Suriname. When Suriname's
economic decline began in 1980, Surinamese leader Colonel Desi Bouterse
blamed Guyanese immigrants, many of whom were successful rice farmers.
The second issue was the matter of fishing rights in the disputed
territory. Both countries have periodically detained each other's
fishermen and confiscated fishing boats on the Courantyne River.